We had a special day on Thursday

Kevin here today. We had a minute’s silence on Thursday to remember all the guinea pigs we’ve known who’ve gone over the Rainbow Bridge.

Percy’s lucky – he’s only known Dougall and Dylan who are the most recent to have left us, and he didn’t really have time to get to know Dougall anyway. I’ve known lots of other piggies – my mate Colman for one, but there are all the people who came with us on the Great Exodus from Jersey, I lost touch with them, but Auntie Doris says there’s only me and Flapjack left now.

The reason for choosing Thursday is because it was the day that Mariusz died, and that was the first person that either Mummy or Auntie Dawn knew to go over the Bridge. He’s a legend, really. Partly because of most of us never met him, except Hugo, and Hugo’s relationship with him was slightly odd (I didn’t know Hugo, but it sounds like he had a certain eccentricity himself). But the other part is because he’s in Mummy’s books and he’s a very important character, so he’s a legend that way too.

Traveler original cover

So although it’s called Mariusz Day, we remember all our friends who have departed.

2 thoughts on “We had a special day on Thursday”

Thank you for this, Kev. I was ok until I saw the photo of Willoughby and Saku, at which time I started tearing up. Will was just a kid! His face was so small and young-looking compared to his huge frame — like Digby now.

The loss of Mariusz was especially hard on your old auntie. It was my first experience with grief over a pig’s passing, and it hit me like a freight train. I was out of it for a long time. The subsequent deaths were just as painful but easier to bear, because I knew what to expect.

But Mariusz lives on in Mummy’s stories! He is eternal … eternally ornery and eternally adorable.